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WISDOM IS BETTER THAN RUBIES, SILVER, OR GOLD. IT'S HIGHER IN VALUE PLUS MORE DURABLE
- LMNO
This line is a reworking of a verse from the Christian Book of Wisdom, The Bible; Proverbs 8:10-11 to be exact. The verse reads: "Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold." "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her."
Most of us are probably familiar with the phrase, "knowledge is power". When I was a young man, my father used to tell me I should get an education because once you get it, no one can take it away from you. It's yours. Getting a degree allowed me to better determine my financial future, where and how I wanted to live. It's provided me the ability to find employment with ease and raise a family. It also widened my perspective of the world by deepening my understanding of race, class, politics, social welfare, philosophy, and religion. Sometimes I say to myself, "I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't gone to college", because most of my friends and social resources are an extension of higher education; theirs or mine. School helped me control the destiny and direction of my everyday life; to a large extent, knowledge gives us power and rulership over our relative existence.
But there was a problem. Even though I did well at regurgitating the information my professors threw at me, passed all the tests, and received a couple degrees, it wasn't enough. Soon I was told the things I learned were being replaced with new insights in the field of psychology. I got jobs I was happy with and who were happy with me, but was told I needed more education, training, certifications, and licenses if I wanted to keep it. This tendency wasn't limited to employment either. When I was a kid we learned there were 9 planets. In my lifetime Pluto was kicked to the curb and is now considered a dwarf planet, so now there are 8 planets. Oddly enough, Pluto was discovered in 1930 which means in my grandfather's lifetime there were 8 planets, and when Pluto was added as a 9th, his understanding of cosmology changed like mine did. This is because knowledge changes and is only as powerful as our limitations to see beyond it. Once we gain the ability to explore phenomena in a more exacting way, our knowledge of it changes. This means knowledge will always be changing and will continue to build on itself ad infinitum. Accepting that experience as an indelible fact is wisdom.
What is the value of wisdom? Both the Bible and LMNO say it's more valuable than precious minerals and jewels, but how? Value is often related to usefulness. What's the usefulness of jewels or money? Well in some sense money has similar characteristics to knowledge. I can use it intelligently to shape my world, to help others and if invested correctly, can watch it build on itself and multiply. The value of wisdom is different. It's ultimate usefulness is its capacity to grant access to absolute truth and therefore rulership over the trappings of the world of relative truth. Desiring wisdom more than rubies, silver, and gold means you genuinely want to see through the illusion that objects of temporary value, which provide temporary moments of joy (rubies, etc.), will ever result in a lasting happiness. In stillness and focused awareness, wisdom informs us there is a reality of peace, contentment, love, and compassion which underlies our everyday experience. It is the way out of the suffering that comes from living disharmoniously with nature. The etymology of the word knowledge is derived from the word gnosis (where we get words like hypnosis, gnostic, acknowledge, agnostic, cognitive and diagnosis) which is in turn derived from the Sanskrit word jnana which means "knowledge inseparable from the direct experience of reality itself". Why do we suffer? Because we do not live in accordance with reality, or how things genuinely are. In a sense because of our attachments to the world of form (the world of knowledge) we turn our awareness away from the search for inherent wisdom.
Why did LMNO say that wisdom is more durable that jewels? Wisdom is durable because it is not subject to the laws of the conditioned world. Wisdom is neither created nor destroyed, neither comes nor goes, is neither obtained or lost, never given or received, is self-existing, and lasts forever. It knows no race and has no friends or enemies. The best part about wisdom is that it is inherent. You're born with it. It's the unconditioned experience of resting in your own indwelling awareness, and in quietude, wisdom is discovered as what lies beneath the usual torrent of thoughts and feelings. You carry it around with you wherever you go and if you're really paying attention, you can see it in others as well. It's our collective birthright. Sages, seers, prophets, mystics, clerics and avatars the world over have all said the same thing; cultivating a relationship with wisdom is the way to see through the confusion that obscures genuine happiness, freedom, growth, and power.
Let's contemplate LMNO's verse: Sit in an upright and comfortable position (on a cushion or chair) with your hands in the meditation posture (place the back of your left hand on the palm of your right hand and let your thumbs touch lightly). Let your eyes rest, half closed and focused on nothing in particular. Let everything in your field of vision just be, without labelling or judging it. Just let your eyes relax. Sit for five minutes and focus all of your attention on breathing. Feel the complete in and out breath and when your mind wanders, bring your attention back to your breath.
After five minutes, allow a word, a sentence, or the entire phrase to arise in your mind and when the word, sentence, or phrase fades, say it gently again. Allow whatever arises to arise without judgement and when something feels real, when there's some spark of insight, rest in your mind and place your attention on it. When your mind starts to wander, bring your attention back to what arose for you. Practice contemplation for ten minutes and then return to focusing on your breath for five more minutes. Focus only on the most subtle of experience. Afterwards, carry whatever arose for you in contemplation practice into your everyday life.
Check this previous post for an explanation of contemplation practice. http://www.hiphopalive.org/mind-spray/2016/12/7/4p2lnb8omwoc5dc5uznhcxii002b89
If there is a verse you think should be contemplated or think I should discuss, let me know in the comment section below.
Hiphop Alive
Justin F. Miles is the founder of Hiphop Alive and pioneering practitioner, theorist and educator at the intersection of Hiphop culture, mindfulness and contemplative studies. He is the leading voice championing the use of Hiphop infused contemplative modalities to foster resilience, emotional intelligence, and community empowerment.